On Thursday, the FTC filed as appeal with the US Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit to get an injunctive relief to stop Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard from closing. Today, the US Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit denied the appeal without providing any details.
The motion for injunctive relief is denied.
This ruling allows Microsoft to close the Activision Blizzard acquisition by Monday. However, Microsoft should also sort out the ongoing legal dispute with UK’s CMA. The CMA and the Competition Appeal Tribunal case management conference is scheduled on Monday as well. There are some rumors that Microsoft may sidestep the UK market in order to close the deal.
“We appreciate the Ninth Circuit’s swift response denying the FTC’s motion to further delay the Activision deal. This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews,” said Brad Smith, President, Microsoft.
